Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Visits Colgate Wednesday Night
2/5/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2008
WHAT: Bucknell (9-12, 4-3 PL) vs. Colgate (11-10, 3-4 PL)
WHERE: Cotterell Court, Hamilton, N.Y.
WHEN: Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008, 7 p.m.
TV: Time Warner (Central New York)
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
LIVE VIDEO: Patriot League All-Access
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES
Probable Starters
Bucknell:
G, 11 John Griffin, Sr., 12.3 ppg
G, 10, Justin Castleberry, Jr., 12.4 ppg
F, 2 Rob Thomas, Sr., 5.0 ppg
F, 15 Stephen Tyree, So., 6.1 ppg
C, 1 Darren Mastropaolo, Sr., 6.3 ppg
Colgate:
G, 32 Daniel Waddy, Sr., 8.7 ppg
G, 13 Kyle Roemer, Jr., 15.1 ppg
F, 22 Tim Pounds, Sr., 5.9 ppg
F, 4 Kendall Chones, Sr., 10.6 ppg
F, 2 Alex Woodhouse, Jr., 5.8 ppg
With a Victory over Colgate, Bucknell Would ...
-- ... improve to 10-12 overall and 5-3 in Patriot League play.
-- ... move within a half-game of first-place Lafayette in the Patriot League standings.
-- ... improve to 3-6 on the road this season and 2-1 on the road in Patriot League play.
-- ... win its eighth in a row over the Raiders and fourth straight at Cotterell Court.
About the Game
The second half of the topsy-turvy Patriot League race begins Wednesday night when suddenly-hot Colgate hosts suddenly-struggling Bucknell at Cotterell Court. The Bison, once 4-1 in the league, lost back-to-back home games to Lehigh and Army last week and have fallen back into a three-way tie for second place in the PL standings. Bucknell is still only one game behind frontrunning Lafayette, but there are six teams currently sitting at either 4-3 or 3-4. Colgate was once 1-4 in the conference, but the Raiders defeated Holy Cross and Navy last week to get back in the hunt. Freshman Mike Venezia scored a career-high 18 points in the win over Navy and was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Monday, while veteran Kyle Roemer continues to lead the team in scoring at 15.1 ppg. This will be the second meeting in nine days between these two teams, as the Bison topped the Raiders 65-61 at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 26.
Pat Flannery Recovering, Nathan Davis to Coach Team vs. Colgate
Bucknell head coach Pat Flannery is still recovering from a recent illness and will not be on the Bucknell sideline on Wednesday night at Colgate. Flannery left the bench in the second half of last Wednesday's home game against Lehigh after feeling under the weather. He was discharged from Evangelical Community Hospital late the following night and is in good condition, however he continues to undergo further testing, and his status for upcoming games has not yet been determined. Since this is a personal medical situation, Flannery and his family are requesting any further details regarding the nature of his illness be kept private at this time. Assistant coach Nathan Davis will be the acting head coach against Colgate.
How to Get the Game
The Bucknell-Colgate game will be televised by Time Warner Cable in Central New York, and live streaming video can be purchased through the Patriot League All-Access package via BucknellBison.com and PatriotLeague.com. The game can also be heard locally on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong and Doug Byerly on the call. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off. The audio feed is available free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.
Bucknell vs. Colgate
This will be the 89th all-time meeting between Bucknell and Colgate in a series that dates back to 1920. The Bison have a 50-38 series lead and have beaten the Raiders seven straight times. As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell has won 29 of the 40 meetings, including 10 of 17 in Hamilton.
Bucknell vs. Colgate Earlier This Season
Back on Jan. 26 at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell raced out to a 23-0 lead then held off a spirited Colgate rally in a 65-61 victory at Sojka Pavilion. Colgate pulled within two points with 11 minutes to play but could never tie or take the lead. The Bison went back up by as many as 14 with 5:43 left but could not put the game away at the free-throw line. They went 2-for-7 and missed three front ends of 1-and-1s in the final 1:11, but the Raiders never had a possession in the final minute where it could shoot for the tie or the lead. Justin Castleberry led Bucknell with 22 points, while Willie Morse came off the bench to score 19 for Colgate.
Bucknell vs. Colgate Last Season
Bucknell swept the season series from Colgate in 2006-07:
-- On Jan. 20 at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell held Colgate to 26.7% shooting, including an 0-for-14 showing from 3-point range, and held off the Raiders 50-36. Chris McNaughton scored 12 points to lead the Bison, who allowed only one field goal in the last 14:57 of the game. Kendall Chones led Colgate with nine points.
-- On Jan. 30 at Cotterell Court, McNaughton and Abe Badmus scored 12 points apiece and the Bison rallied from a big early deficit for a 56-53 win. Bucknell spotted Colgate a 17-2 lead but outscored the Raiders 54-36 the rest of the way. The Bison actually went up by as many as 13 points after a 16-0 second-half run, but Colgate rallied late and got as close as one point at 54-53 before Stephen Tyree sealed it with a breakaway layup just before the final buzzer.
Last Time Out
Army outscored Bucknell 43-24 in the second half on Sunday and snapped a 15-game losing streak to Bucknell, 68-52 at Sojka Pavilion. The Black Knights, who had not won in Lewisburg since 1997, got 21 points from Jarell Brown and shot 51.2% from the floor. It was a 37-36 Army lead in the second half when the Black Knights went on a 14-5 run over a span of 6:46 to take control. The Bison managed back-to-back points only once in the second half and could not get closer than eight the rest of the way.
Inside the Army Boxscore
-- Army's last victory over Bucknell came on Feb. 14, 2001, and its last win in Lewisburg was an 83-71 victory in Davis Gym in 1996-97.
-- Coming into the game Army had been 0-7 all-time at Sojka Pavilion and had never scored more than 49 points in a game there.
-- The Black Knights shot 63.2% from the field (12-19) in the second half. -- Bucknell committed a season-high 24 turnovers, 15 coming in the second half.
-- John Griffin made 5 of 9 3-point tries and scored 17 points, his highest output since scoring 27 against Cornell on Dec. 19. Griffin also had 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
-- Stephen Tyree went 3-for-4 from the floor and finished with 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists without a turnover in 27 minutes.
-- Bucknell outrebounded Army 28-24 but was outscored 18-8 from the free-throw line.
Numbers to Watch
Some relevent stats involving Bucknell and Colgate:
-- Allowing second-chance points has been an issue for the Bison at times this season, and in the first meeting with Colgate the Raiders piled up a whopping 21 offensive rebounds. They will have to be especially mindful of Colgate's Kendall Chones and Alex Woodhouse, who are two of the Patriot League's top six offensive rebounders. Chones had five offensive caroms against Bucknell on Jan. 26, and the Raiders finished with a 44-25 edge on the glass.
-- Colgate leads the Patriot League in field goal percentage defense (.410), and in its current two-game winning streak the Raiders have held Navy and Holy Cross to 36.8% shooting, 24.0% from 3-point range. Bucknell has shot reasonably well at Cotterell Court in recent years. In their last four games there, the Bison shot 48.1% overall, although in 2004 they went 0-for-13 from 3-point range in a loss to the Raiders.
-- These two teams faced two common opponents during non-league play. Both teams lost to Marist at home (BU 55-40; CU 61-60) and both defeated Cornell (BU 88-75 at home; CU 76-73 on the road).
